The Denver Post hosted a 90-minute debate Tuesday night at its headquarters between the five candidates competing to run against Democratic incumbent Michael Bennet in November: Robert Blaha, Ryan Frazier, Darryl Glenn, Jack Graham and Jon Keyser. Below are clips from 10 top moments and exchanges from the Colorado GOP Senate primary debate.

The Colorado Supreme Court agreed Thursday to hear GOP Senate primary candidate Ryan Frazier’s appeal of a lower court’s findings that disqualified him for the ballot.

The high court is allowing Frazier until May 23 to file his brief in the case.

Late last month, Coloardo Secretary of State Wayne Williams, a Republican, found problems with signatures gathered by the Frazier campaign that disqualified him, a problem that also has plagued other candidates in the race. The court gave Williams until the 18th to file his brief.

Jon Keyser and Robert Blaha also were disqualified by Williams’ office, but later prevailed in appeals to a district court.

Water monitoring taken in the Animas River near Durango, Colo. on Aug. 14, 2015. (Source: Eric Vance/EPA)

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency plans to spend another $600,000 to monitor the Animas River for pollution in the aftermath of last year’s ecological disaster at Colorado’s Gold King Mine.

The infusion of cash was announced this week by U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner of Colorado; the two lawmakers, along with Gov. John Hickenlooper and U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, had urged the EPA this spring to devote more resources to studying the river’s water quality.

“I applaud EPA’s decision to provide additional funding to support water quality treatment and monitoring efforts as I expressed to EPA during Congressional hearings last fall. The spring runoff is a top concern of mine following the Animas River spill, as we learn more about the spill’s long-term impact,” Gardner said in a statement.

The EPA already has spent about $465,000 for water-quality monitoring in the river, which has contaminated last summer with more than 3 million gallons of toxic waste after crews working for the EPA accidentally caused a blowout at the Gold King Mine near Silverton.

The extra funding, however, is unlikely to insulate the agency from further pressure from Congress. Just this week two senators called for a criminal probe of the spill and Gardner plans to introduce legislation as soon as next week that would require the EPA spend more money to compensate communities affected by the accident.

He wore a suit instead of shoulder pads, but Brandon Stokley was having an impact on football once again Tuesday, as he urged state senators to pass a bill putting what he sees as reasonable safeguards on fantasy sports leagues.

Stokley sought to save the games in Colorado, not bury them. Some states have banned the games outright, but Colorado lawmakers are putting controls in place to allow thousands of Coloradans — including Stokley and his 12-year-old son — to play on.

“I love fantasy sports,” he said in an interview after testifying to a Senate Finance Committee, where the bill passed 3-2. “I played fantasy football when I was in middle school. We’ve got over 800,000 Coloradans who play fantasy sports; I think it’s a great thing.

Denver Deputy Mayor Don Mares leads a ribbon-cutting at the new Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region and Armenians of Colorado office Monday morning. He is joined by Armenian National Committee of America Western Region executive director Elen Asatryan, Armenians of Colorado board president Sona Hedeshian, ANCA community development coordinator Simon Maghakyan, AOC as well as a number of state legislators. (Photo by Evan Semon)

An emerging political presence stepped farther out into the Colorado spotlight Monday, as Armenians of Colorado and Armenian National Committee of Americaopened a shared office in the basement of the First Baptist Church, across 14th Street from the Capitol.

The office will be a hub for the state’s nearly 5,000 Armenian-Americans as well as the Western regional office for ANCA, which will serve Colorado and all the Western states outside of California.

The office will help raise the profile of Armenian immigrants and the unrest in the homeland, as well as assisting Coloradans of Armenian descent with voter registration, political involvement and educational opportunities, said Elen Asatryan, executive director for ANCA, headquartered in Los Angeles.

Colorado lawmakers locked in partisan tiffs in the final days of the legislative session will lay down their arms and join arms around the issue of mental health Monday. In a public bipartisan ceremony Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper will sign a proclamation declaring May Mental Health Month in the state.

The noon ceremony in the West Foyer of the Capitol also will be led by Democratic House Speaker Dickey Lee Hullinghorst of Boulder and Republican Rep. Clarice Navarro of Pueblo. Attendees can receive a free mental-health wellness screening courtesy of Mental Health Colorado, the event’s organizer.

Denver City Council members take part in the first meeting of the term in July 2015, including, from left, Wayne New, Jolon Clark, Stacie Gilmore and Rafael Espinoza. (Jon Murray, The Denver Post)

The Denver City Council this week released its work plan for the year, focusing heavily on transportation, affordable housing and jobs for residents.

Those three overarching priorities also track closely with spending imperatives the council set Friday morning as part of its annual budget retreat, which is aimed at voicing the council’s preferences as Mayor Michael Hancock’s administration puts together the 2017 city budget.

The council’s work plan, issued Monday, is the first such effort in memory. Council President Chris Herndon says he plans to create working groups that will focus on each area — and could draft proposals to address certain issues later this year.

Colorado U.S. Reps. Ed Perlmutter, a Democrat, and Mike Coffman, a Republican, co-hosted an event on veterans’ mental health Thursday night the Capitol Visitors Center in Washington, D.C. The featured attraction was a documentary by veteran Colorado newsman Steffan Tubbs on post-traumatic stress disorder, known by the acronym PTSD.

“I fully understand how serious this issue is and how important it is for us to focus on effective mental health treatments for our veterans, and I can’t thank Steffan Tubbs enough for making this film and for highlighting the invisible wounds of PTSD and its devastating impacts with an estimated 22 veteran suicides every day,” Coffman, a Marine Corps combat veteran, said in a statement Friday.

Hillary Clinton named Emmy Ruiz as her Colorado campaign director Friday in yet another signal the former secretary of state’s campaign is looking past rival Bernie Sanders toward the November election.

Ruiz, a 32-year-old Texas native, served as the Nevada director for the caucus, a position she also held for Clinton in her 2008 bid. Her hire is one of many to come in presidential battleground states across the country. As state director, Ruiz will lead the organizing efforts in Colorado to recruit volunteers and coordinate turn-out strategy.

The Clinton campaign argues that the outcome of the primary is not in doubt so it must start to focus on the general election.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.